Death Note Revisited
by xXOpticBeefXx
Summary: A reimagined telling of Death Note with an added protagonist.
1. Introduction

Adam Townsend sat at his desk, barely listening as the teacher gave his lecture. These classes were so boring. 'Blah blah blah Atomic Theory' this, 'blah blah blah, Quantum Mechanics' that. He already knew this shit. Ever since he came to Japan, that's all he had been taught; things he already knew. He wanted a challenge. Something new. Something exciting. His thoughts were interrupted by the high-pitched clanging of the bell. "Finally." Adam murmured as he gathered his books and other supplies. He stood up, walking casually out of the room. At last, another boring, uneventful day was over. How many did he have left? He would be heading back to America in eleven months. While he did enjoy the culture of Japan, he hadn't made any friends. What was the point? He would only have them for a year. Sure, there was instant messaging, email, and more archaic ways to keep in touch, but that was too much of a hassle. Most of the friends he had back home were low-maintenence; and that's the way Adam liked it. Yes, he considered keeping in touch on emails and IM's high-maintenence. He looked to the right as he got his bag from his locker. There, talking to a small group of students, was Light Yagami; the school's golden boy. While he had only been here for a month, Adam gathered the Yagami was very popular, very intelligent, and very well-loved at the school. Light turned around. His and Adam's eyes locked for just a moment, but it was enough to make Adam hide behind his locker door. A minute or two passed before he heard a voice coming from the other side of the locker door.  
"Hey. Were you looking at me?" Adam closed his locker and came face-to-face with Light  
Yagami. Light brushed his brown hair out of his face with a smile. Adam was silent for a moment. While you might not have guessed it from looking at him, Adam was rather shy. Especially around new people. A solid seven seconds passed before Adam got the courage to respond.

"Um, yeah." He said quickly and quietly. Light seemed amused by how nervous Adam was. He extended a hand to the nervous young man.

"My name is Light Yagami." Adam hesitated for a moment. A month without even a glance and now Light was interested in swapping formalities? It kind of rubbed Adam the wrong way. Regardless, he met Light's hand and shook it.

"Adam Townsend." He gave Light a nervous smile, then released his hand.

"A pleasure to meet you, Adam. You're from the US, right? I've seen you around. It's good to finally meet you. How are you liking Japan so far?" Light asked. Adam wasn't sure if Light was expressing genuine interest or if he was just being nice. Either way, he decided to play along.

"It's a great country. I prefer Japan's culture to my own to be honest with you." Light smiled, then jerked his thumb towards the nearby exit.

"Let's walk and talk." Light began to walk towards the exit. Adam walked next to him. They walked home together, not really talking about anything in particular. Finally, the time came where they had to go their separate ways. Finally, Adam was home. He had rented a small apartment when he came to Japan. It was cheap, but he didn't really like the neighborhood and the apartment itself was a tad bit cramped. He walked up the ten flights of stairs to his apartment; 126. He opened the door, entering and shutting it behind him. He smiled at the familiar surroundings. A bookshelf with some of this favorite detective novels and manga, some posters with his favorite bands and video games, and his TV set with the novel he was currently reading on top of it. He flopped down in the bed and fell asleep almost instantly.


	2. Chapter One

Adam awoke at exactly eight o'clock AM on Sunday morning to the shrill, annoying beeping of his alarm clock. With a groan, he slapped the top of the alarm, shutting it off. He laid still for just a moment, hesitant to leave the soft blanket that was wrapped around him. Eventually, he got out of bed and went to the small, prison cell sized kitchen to make himself some coffee. "At last, Sunday." He mumbled to himself, half asleep. Once his coffee was done, he sat on his bed and turned on the TV.

"Tch, more Kira shit." He changed the channel.

"A special report on Kira." He changed it again.

"Today, we have more news on Kira." Again.

"Criminal death toll upwards of..."

"UGH!" Adam shut off the TV and tossed the remote down on his bed. Nowadays, it seemed that the only thing the news talked about was Kira. Adam was just about sick of it. He was just some sick fuck that got his jollies from killing criminals. What the hell was so interesting about that? Quite a bit, he hated to admit. Criminals with no prior history of health problems... dead of heart attacks. It was a little odd. Secretly, his inner detective longed to catch Kira. Unmask him in front of the world and expose him for the cold-blooded murderer he is. The great detective catches the criminal and everyone lives happily ever after. "And I don't have to see anymore damn Kira reports on the news." Adam set his coffee on his bedside table and laid down. "Maybe I should go out today. I kinda feel like a bum just laying around all day." He sat up again and picked his coffee up off of the table. He put the cup to his lips and began to drink the hot, bitter liquid. In what seemed like just a few seconds, he drank the entire cup of coffee. Over the course of an hour, Adam consumed two pots' worth of coffee. "All this caffeine can't be good for me." He chuckled and went over to his closet, pulling out today's outfit; a plain short-sleeved t-shirt and jeans. He got dressed, slipped his phone into his pocket and opened up his door. Light was standing just outside. His fist up in the air as if he was just about to knock on the door. Light seemed a little surprised. Adam even more so. He was in a stunned silence, so Light spoke first.

"Good morning, Adam."

"Uh, yeah, good morning, Light. What can I do for you?" He wondered why Light went to the trouble of coming all the way over to his place. Light smiled.

"I was wondering if you wanted to do something today. I feel kind of bad for you. You've been here for a month and haven't made any friends." Light laughed nervously and scratched his head. He obviously regretted saying that. Adam wasn't angry though. It was true. He hadn't made any friends in the month he had been here. Plus, he did plan on going out today.

"Yeah, uh, sure." The pair walked out of the apartment building and took the train to Aoyama, where Adam was to meet some of Light's friends. On the way there, the topic of conversation somehow became about Kira.

"So, what do you think about Kira, Adam?" Light asked as they walked on the sidewalk, heading towards some coffee shop Light recommended. Adam thought it peculiar that Light would ask such a question, but he responded anyway.

"I know i'm tired of hearing about him. But I do find him interesting. His brand of insanity is uncommon nowadays. Or her brand of insanity. Hell, Kira could be a woman for all we know. But if you're asking if I support him, then no. I don't. We don't create laws just so some jackass can step on them and then declare himself the law." He didn't look to see Light's reaction. "What about you, Light? Do you support Kira?" There was a long moment of silence. After a few seconds, Light spoke.

"No, I don't. I completely agree with you." There was something off about the way Light said it. It made Adam's skin crawl. He visibly shivered.

"Well, that's good. Not that my opinion of you would change too much if you did support him."

"What do you think about L?" Light asked. L was the detective that was after Kira. He just so happened to be Adam's hero. The greatest detective in the world.

"He's my hero." Adam replied honestly. "I'm majoring in criminal justice because I want to be just like him. Unmasking criminals, solving cases... just like the detectives in my books. L inspired me to want to become a detective. What about you?"

"I like him. He's not exactly my hero, but he's trying to catch Kira. That's good enough for me." Adam looked at Light, a confused expression on his face. Was Light just being agreeable? Were these opinions really his? Before, their conversation could go any further, a voice rang out from a ways down the street, bringing his attention to a large group of people.

"Hey Light!" Adam was shocked at the size of the group. There must have been ten people there. He got really nervous when he was in a crowd. His fear of "the mob" was very hard to shake. It didn't help that Light tried to set him up with the girls in the group. Maybe it would have worked if Adam was open to the idea. After a couple of movies, lunch, and some coffee, everyone went their separate ways. Light and Adam were on their way back home, discussing the events of the day.

"So, did you have fun?" He asked, smiling over at him. Adam thought for a moment. Did he have fun? He spent most of the day trying to distance himself from the others, but that didn't work so he did decide to socialize in the end. He enjoyed the movies, met some interesting people, and he got to have more coffee, so yeah. He did have fun. But there was this one guy... he was very strange. He wore a long sleeved white shirt and jeans, sat weirdly, was constantly nibbling on his thumb, and it seemed like all he ate was sweets. Candy at the movies, donuts and lollipops for lunch, copious amounts of sugar in his coffee... he responded to Light.

"I did, Light. I thought I wouldn't, considering the size of the group, but I did have fun. Thank you." Light began to talk some more after that, but Adam didn't hear what he was saying. He was too lost in his own thoughts. A friend is someone you like, right? You also hang out with them. He liked Light Yagami for some reason that he couldn't really pinpoint. Maybe it was his positive attitude. Not enough to be annoying. Just enough for it to rub off on Adam a little bit. He and Light also began to hang out. Did that mean... he and Light Yagami were friends? Adam interrupted whatever Light was talking about. "Hey, Light? Are we friends?" He asked, looking at Light curiously. Light seemed a little surprised at the suddenness of the question. Nevertheless, he gave a satisfying response.

"Well, maybe it's too soon to say that we're friends. But we're definitely on that path."

"Thanks." Adam was satisfied with that. _We're on the path to being friends, huh..._

"Well, looks like we're here." Light's words brought Adam back to Earth. They were back at his apartment.

"Oh, right." Adam went up to the front door. "So, see you after class tomorrow?" He asked.

"Yeah, you bet. See you." With a wave, Light departed. Adam went back up to his apartment and flopped down on the bed. He couldn't get that strange guy out of his mind. What was his name? Ryuga? Ryuka? Ryuzaki? Yeah, that was it. Ryuzaki. He was such a strange man. He recalled their game of chess at the coffee shop. He was a worthy opponent. It seemed like he was wiping the floor with him, but the game ended in Adam's victory. Afterwards, Ryuzaki started asking him tons of weird questions about Kira. What theories he had, how he thought Kira killed... Adam honestly didn't mind if he never saw that guy again. He was just about asleep when his phone rang. With a groan, he took it out of his pocket and looked at the Caller ID. It was his mother. That was odd. She usually called once a week on Fridays. She had already called him then, why was she calling him now? Adam flipped his phone open, putting it to his ear. "Mom?"

"Hello. This is L." A synthetic voice on the other line said. Adam wasn't really sure what to say. This had to be a joke.

"So, you're L? The great detective? My personal hero?" Adam decided to play along.

"Yes, yes, and that's very nice of you to say." The voice said. Adam paused. If this was a joke, the joker was very committed. But what if it wasn't? Could this really be L? His hero? The great detective?

"Okay, let's assume for a second that you actually are L."

"But I am L."

"Let's assume that for a second. What do you want with me?" Adam wanted to know what those joker wanted. Was he a joker? What was up with the synthetic voice? Maybe he really is L. But those thoughts could wait for later. He wanted to see what "L" wanted first.

"As you know, I am currently heading the Kira investigation. There are very brilliant minds at work, but it's not enough. We need more."

"You think i'm brilliant?"  
"I do, Adam Townsend." Adam froze. How did this guy know his name? Maybe he got it off the internet. No, Adam was always very careful to never use his real name publicly on the internet. That also raises the question; how did he get his number?

"How do you know my name? Where did you get my number?" Adam asked in a slightly angry tone.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that. All I ask is that you trust me for now." L said. Adam wasn't really sure what he should do. If this really was L...

"Okay. What do you want?"

"I want to meet you, Adam Townsend."

"When?"

"Tomorrow night. Can you make it?"

"Sure. Where?"

"I'll call you back with the location. Good night." With that, L, or the man claiming to be L, hung up.


End file.
